Twelve months ago, Julia Gillard replaced Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister in a brutal and ruthlessly executed leadership coup. Was it worth it?
The thing I’ve been shaking my head about this week — when thousands of column inches have been expended on the subject of the first anniversary of Julia Gillard’s Prime Ministership — is the proliferation of articles stating that Julia Gillard was elected unopposed by the ALP caucus as Labor leader and thus Prime Minister following the resignation of Kevin Rudd.
Presentation is everything.
These reports are factually correct, in that Rudd opted not to contest the Labor leadership ballot which consequently saw Gillard elected unopposed, but ignore the machinations and intrigue which left him no choice other than utter humiliation.
Prior to Rudd’s withdrawal, the consensus was that Gillard would have won at least 80, and likely more, of the 110-odd votes available in the ALP caucus.
I wanted to start with this; not to defend Rudd, but to illustrate just how divorced from reality some journalists are when it comes to the Labor Party and how, despite their best endeavours, the sins of Julia have found her out.
It’s no secret in political circles that Rudd is an arrogant, abrasive, noxious and periodically abusive creature. It’s no secret anywhere else that he is also self-obsessed, ruthlessly ambitious, and filled with rectitude in his conviction of the utter worth and value of his thoughts and ideas and of their superiority to those from any other quarter.
Yet he was a first-term Prime Minister who’d ended nearly 12 years of government by his opponents, and despite the poor government he ran was polling strongly enough at the time of his removal (five months from an election) to be re-elected with a barely-changed majority.
Still, it’s been 12 months, one year, or (frankly) a bloody long time. How has Julia Gillard done?
Her first task was to “fix” Rudd’s Resource Super Profits Tax (we’ll just call it mining tax); a “fix” that involved a deal with a few of the biggest mining companies and ignored the rest. And even now, the mining lobby reserves its right to fight the Labor government anew: the deal fixed nothing. And this is before we even discuss the lunacy of trying to cripple with taxation and sovereign risk the industry which is virtually the sole driver of economic growth in this country at present.
(Remember, the Canadians, the South Africans, the Brazilians, and anyone else with minerals in the ground are more than happy to take our export markets: and once those markets are lost, they’re very difficult — if not impossible — to win back).
Other “fixes” were orchestrated too, primarily on politically sensitive issues in which the government had already blotted its copybook. These were mere Band-Aid solutions, as had been her response to the mining tax issue, but with those fabric strips in place, she called an election…
…which nobody won. It is indictment enough that a first-term government elected three years earlier with a healthy majority was robbed of its majority, but the Liberal/National opposition won more seats than Labor and was denied government only on account of so-called “independents,” sitting in overwhelmingly conservative electorates, siding with Labor.
Gillard was meant to win in a landslide. After all, in her own words, this was a “good government that had lost its way.” She was its salvation.
Bollocks.
Nobody won. But Gillard profited, and was confirmed by the House of Representatives as Prime Minister. Many excruciating days after the election, and after many excruciating minutes of a speech by Rob Oakeshott, Gillard continued in government.
For some months, the Labor government ambled aimlessly on its way. One person who wasn’t aimless was Kevin Rudd: relegated to the backbench after Gillard’s coup, and installed as Foreign Minister after the eventual result from the election, Kevin 747 set about his job with gusto, and set about making mischief for the government he purported to serve.
Specifically, Kevin 747 has made it clear, since the first day of his tenure at the Department of Foreign Affairs, that he remains available. More on him later.
With the government already starting to list in the reputable opinion polls (and actually look like losing, as opposed to the convenient interpretations utilised by ALP apparatchiks prior to rolling Rudd), the real kicker came in February this year: despite a solemn and thoroughly unambiguous promise to do nothing of the kind, Gillard announced a carbon tax.
Immediately, the ALP’s ratings went into a tailspin, whence they have not recovered. Ridiculously, four or five months later, there is still not a shred of hard detail on record from the government in relation to what shape this tax might take.
But presentation is everything. Having pulled the trigger on her intention to break an election promise (and it was likely the promise which saved the ALP enough seats to negotiate government with), there has not been one iota of fat added to the bones of a motherhood statement on taxing carbon.
Yet for months Gillard and the ALP has allowed this to drag on, and to drag them into the sort of electoral territory which doesn’t merely indicate defeat, it indicates slaughter.
And all the while, this government has absolutely nothing to point to as a real achievement in terms of delivering practical and beneficial outcomes to the people who voted for it or, indeed, to anyone else.
Certainly, under Rudd the excessive WorkChoices laws were wound back…to an archaic extent more pro-union than at any time in more than 20 years. Those changes aided nobody other than unions.
Indeed, schoolkids who wanted to work for an hour or two after they finished school of an afternoon were denied jobs because shifts shorter than three hours were illegal. What a great message about work ethic to send to the upcoming generation.
Again, under Rudd, an apology was made in Parliament (and thus under privilege and therefore immune to legal proceedings) to the so-called Stolen Generation. Nice gesture. But I would ask what constructive difference that gesture made to the day-to-day life of Aboriginal people: how it helped them pay the rent or the mortgage, to feed themselves, clothe themselves, look after their children, get an education, and so forth.
Like the changes to industrial relations law, this was more about the sizzle than the sausage, and Labor knows it.
Yet these are things done on Rudd’s watch, and there are many more examples available. Yes, he and his agenda were misguided, tokenistic, sometimes malicious and usually plain wrong, but things happened on his watch, whether they were right or wrong.
The same can’t be said of Ms Gillard.
We do have Commonwealth debt at its highest level ever, and rising, with Labor seeking to raise the cap on Commonwealth debt by a further $50 billion. Does that qualify as an achievement?
And whilst debt to GDP ratios in Australia may be relatively low by world standards today, so were Britain’s before Tony Blair and Gordon Brown got hold of them. That dear country is on the brink of bankruptcy today as a direct result of Labour Party mismanagement. It took 13 years there; Labor here has had less than four so far. I shudder to think what the landscape might look like in ten years if they remain in office.
Accompanying Labor’s apparently terminal plunge in public opinion, the rattled government that has created, and a weak, directionless and reactionary Prime Minister unable or unwilling to get effective control over things, the spectre of Kevin Rudd looms large.
Those who read this column know my thoughts on Rudd, on Gillard, and the government they have so spectacularly and incompetently led since late 2007.
Yet with Kevin 747 refusing to accept his time is over, and with Julia Gillard refusing to run an accountable and honest government, the intrigue, the drift, the policy U-turns and the sheer political ineptitude we witness daily are unsurprising.
In this climate we have a government lurching toward defeat; its original leader, reviled by his party but engendering some sympathy from the electorate, hankering after his old job for purely selfish purposes; ad-hoc and dishonest government policy generating fury throughout the country and a clamour for fresh elections; a government nobody wants, a Prime Minister nobody respects or believes, and a parliament that has been rendered a farce.
It is one year today since Julia Gillard became Prime Minister: a sorry year indeed, in the context of the governance of Australia.
It’s not a happy anniversary, Prime Minister.
The legal requirements to the contrary might very well be inarguable, but morally, you owe millions of Australians a fresh election.
Do the honourable thing, and perhaps salvage some modicum of your reputation for having had the decency to respect the overwhelming weight of public expectation in the face of the shattering dishonesty and incompetence you have exhibited as Prime Minister of this great country, and resign.
It hasn’t been a pleasant year.
Ah, you’re forgetting the “East Timor” solution to asylum seekers – and the ridiculous public convention Gillard initially suggested. What astounds me, and disappoints me, most about Gillard is that she is an opportunity lost – an unarguably very clever woman, who is either ill advised or simply has no political nouse. Whatever your political colours, I think history will show our first female prime minister has failed dismally, and quite possibly made it very difficult for another, more capable, woman to be seriously considered for the job in future.
Good point. I hadn’t forgotten the things you mention — the litany of poor policies and silly ideas is just so long that it would have taken a small novel worth of space to document and detail. But the various asylum seeker “fixes” the ALP have offered, and the “citizen’s assembly” that never assembled, are two further examples of own-goal policies under this Prime Minister.
While I don’t think that even Julia’s parents would say she hasn’t had a difficult year and many in the ALP are scratching their heads and navel gazing, there are some elements of the arguements you have put here and espoused by many journos are spin and not the reality. Perception always rules in politics and the perception of the Gillard Govt isn’t presently good, but that doesn’t mean its been altogether bad Govt.
If people watched Question Time instead of the news I think people would see things very differently for example. Gillard outdoes Abbott on a vast majority of occassions however her persona changes to be overly cautious in the media and it doesn’t give people confidence.
The perception the media and the Opposition have thrown at things such as the Super Profits Tax, BER, etc.. are quite dangerously wrong and why Gina Rineheart has bought into the media, on current projections she will become the richest person in the world. The Resources Sector currently has $170 odd billion worth of planned projects despite this new “Great BIG TAX” and the quality of our product and our competitive advantage to close markets in India and China which are driving our boom and with many long term projects already signed up for makes a complete joke of any arguement against the tax. The resources making Gina et al not just wealthy but really, REALLY WEALTHY, are owned by all of us. They do very well out of the speculative nature of thier investments and sharing that with the tax payer to build infrastructure, to improve education and health of the nation is only fair and reasonable. It will ultimately benefit them as well and increase their chances of improving their markets.
The apology was a very important step in a long road to reconcilation for the indignous people of this nation. It actually meant a great deal to them, for it was difficult thing to live with when the perps of the crimes againgst them didn’t ackowledge it. It is an amportant part of the healing process. We all need a deeper understanding of Aboriginal people and their culture, to do so would give the knowledge to understand the deep meaning of the apology and what it meant. I do give Abbott credit on this front as he does seek to have a greater understanding on this issue and for that I give him credit.
As for the debt, realistically it’s like a household with a personal loan for a car. Hardly out of control credit cards like Greece, Ireland, Spain, etc… Debt is not a bad thing and shouldn’t be afriad, most foreign debt by far in Australia is from business, free enterprise but I rarely see anyone on the conservative side of politics argueing that business shouldn’t get loans to invest in their enterprises.
As for the Govt in minority well that is something that many countires have been dealing with successfully for sometime. Despite that clamis the Govt is a ‘hapless water buffalo whalling in the mud’ to quote HG Nelson, they passed passed , with a 100% success rate, 151 pieces of legislation. They have successfully lead our economy through the greatest economic crisis since the depression. The have implemented a paid parental leave scheme. They are modernising our internet network. Given kids in school from year nine up a computer and a lot of other important things as well like restoring money to hospitals, public housing, and restoring the balance after years of neglect by the Howard Govts.
While it is the flavour of the month paint a dark picture of the past and future of the Gillard Govt, there are clealry many splashes of colour which are yet to see the light on the canvas.
So you’re obviously pro-Labor. What’s your view on Gillard’s East Timor solution (now a dead duck), and the current Malaysian solution? How are these policies different (in terms of outcome) to those implemented by Howard? (And before you wrongly assume that I’m a rusted on conservative, I think mandatory detention for years on end is an abomination.) How do you also justify the atrocious implementation of the housing insulation scheme?
While watching question time can be illuminating, let’s not forget that policy is formed and implemented outside these sessions. At the end of the day, they are just a school yard spat session, and not much use at that either.
I judge a government on the quality of its policies and how they are implemented. Rudd and Gillard (both within the Rudd government and now head of her own government) are both guilty of rushing policy without proper consultation or review – the ‘we must be seen to be doing something’ edict seems to override common sense when it comes to administration and implementation. Which is why there were issues with the BER, the NBN (which will continue to plague Gillard), cash for clunkers, the RSPT and oh dear me I could go on. Billions of taxpayer dollars wasted.
And among that was the paid parental leave scheme. I find it ludicrous that Gillard was unable to sell that policy, for clearly that was a major win – long overdue, and desperately needed by the ‘working families’ that swept Rudd Labor into office in the first place. I applaud this policy!
As to the apology to the Stolen Generation – one of my sisters-in-law is a Torres Strait Islander, was (as a baby) taken from her mother, and has spent many years teaching Indigenous children in their own communities. Her take is that while the apology is all very nice, it made absolutely no difference to the quality of life of Indigenous communities, or resolved their myriad problems. Very much a case of action speaks louder than words. “An important first step on the road to reconciliation”? Rubbish. That first step was taken long ago.
Hospitals and public housing – these are State issues, and oh dear me, we’ve had a plethora of Labor State governments over the years, said governments swimming in GST revenue. Little or nothing done.
It’s fine to be a standard bearer for the party that you believe represents your values. But be brave enough to criticise its faults and failings, rather than simply laud its few successes.
Harsh but fair. Gillard took over as Labour ‘had lost its way’ The ALP need a gps if they think the Australian public appreciate blatant lieing whether about the carbon tax or any other issue. She is no statesman and has brought ridicule to the office of prime minister with her various policies on boat people. Rudd was a disaster, he wasted billions on pink bats and over sized school halls. That said I believe the apology was important and brought closure for many traumatised people.
While I am certainly pro Labor I did start the spiel by saying that even Julia’s Mum and Dad would find it hard to say she’s had a good year. I do however stand by my point that it hasn’t been all doom and gloom and that the perception doesn’t always meet the reality.
Your mis informed assumptions on the BER for example, this was clearly something that helped stimulate the economy and the building industry when it needed it the most, it actually delivered results, proven by examination by non Govt sources, to be delivered with good value for money and far better than most building projects. It is a clear example of the misinformation spread by press like the Australian newspaper. But again , I go back to my point about perception v reality, you aren’t alone in these false assumptions but if you based your views on more sources than the media then your views would be somewhat different on the subject, not only on this issue but many.
Another point is taking the view of one person to form your opinion on the apology. That’s rubbish I’m afraid and is pretty insulting to the many, many people who welcomed this right across the country. A while it may not the first step in reconcilitation it was certainly a dramatic step forward for stolen generations whether it provided rising standards of living or solutions to their many problems.
Hospitals and public housing while administered by the States is , by provision of funding by the Commonwealth, clearly in the policy realm of the Federal Govt. For example the Howard Govt sucked $120million a year from Public Housing in Qld alone. That sort of money isn’t able to be replaced by State revenue sources and hence had a great deal of effect in the ability of the State Govt to provide the required housing to meet demand. This demand was actually increased by the changes to social security payments implemented by Howard which increased the pressure on housing stock , hence raising house prices and rents and driving the need for public housing from low income earners. I have organised public discussions on this issue with people from housing industry associations and public housing activists and others involved in this field. If you think they are swimming in GST revenue then you are dreaming.
On refugees I am with you . I detest the attempts to deal with this issue and agitate against it. Labor is dealing with this issue incredibly stupidly , with costly and insulting solutions to an issue which really isn’t a problem in Australia. It disgusts me and goes against the core values of what I believe being an Aussie is actually about, a fair go, looking after others.
Brave, hardly, but I have and will critic when necessary, however the response to the above article was about evening the balance, putting a view that it ain’t all bad and it clearly isn’t if you look beyond the Tory spin and scaremongering and poor and lazy media reporting. Can they do better? Sure. Are they completely incompetent? Any fair analysis would show that it’s clearly not.
Ah, the BER – yet another example of good policy poorly implemented. Hundreds of millions of taxpayers money wasted on construction of buildings either not required by schools in question, or so poorly constructed as to be useless. The success stories under this program have been, far and away, where the schools and communities were able to manage the process themselves – decide what was needed, the specifications for same, the tender process and project managing the build. Great. But there are countless examples of bureaucratic waste. Then there’s the housing insulation scheme – the state agencies charged with rolling out the program told the government they simply did not have the resources to manage the process effectively. The government told them to just ‘get on with it’. Which is why so many dodgy operators sprang up, sniffing a quick buck to be made. Thus endangering the lives of thousands.
As to the apology to the stolen generation – I’d rather take the opinion of one person who LIVES an issue over the ignorant and ill-informed mutterings of those who simply have an opinion on the subject. My sister-in-law is not alone – many Indigenous people (including community elders) have spoken of their disappointment that the apology, while all very nice, did not change their lot in life.
And the States ARE swimming in GST revenue – and have been for years. It’s unfortunate that the governments of those States have chosen to unwisely allocate it to projects which are either unnecessary, or (yet again!!) poorly managed. There are countless examples in Victoria.
So while your point about Gillard’s first year not being ‘all doom and gloom’ is technically correct, there’s clearly not much to celebrate. There’s none so blind as those who will not see.
Gods maybe crazy but they aren’t alone………
Hmm so despite independant reports you’d rather base your information on media reports becuase they suit your view, not sure if you actually understand who is blind here. BER being a failure is a myth. Scince buildings, libraries and school halls and are important investment in our future, like Menzies rode on the sheeps back previous govts have rode on the resources boom, it won’t be around for ever and we need to future proof our econmy through invoation, education, etc.. so investing in our schools should never been seen as a waste of money even if a builder put the taps in the wrong spot.
As for the insulation scheme, it wasn’t actually adminstered by the States, certainly not in my State. WH&S are a state matter where the problem lied with the scheme and accreditation of workers and businesses should have been done, it was a good policy with some serious flaws.
As for your comments re my “ignorance and ill-informed mutterings” you can’t be much further from the truth I’m afraid as I am quite involved in my community and work closely with both ATSI young people and their elders ( just one example – I Chair an organisation which links young offenders to their culture and utlising other strategies attempts to stop them from reoffending). I have dicussed this issue at lenght and and read many articles by ATSI and non-ATSI people involved in the community sector. While not all welcomed the apology, like anyone would ever agreed entirely , a vast majority welcomed it. They are a proud people who have many different sets of values than white Australia and symbolic gestures mean a lot. Did the apology help in pysical ways, no, and I didn’t say that. If your Sister -in -Law thought that materially life would be different then she had the wrong end of the stick in terms of what it was for and meant to be.
As for GST revenue for states, again I actually work in the State sector , and again I say you are dreaming. Are there poorly manged projects, yes , in any large orgainsation there is, if they where swimming in revenue then a few bad projects wouldn’t make any difference. You also forget the investments of State Govts where hit badly with GFC.
So understand that while you may disagree with my statements don’t presume that I do so from a base of ignorance.